Susan Boyle

In a class based on Edward Sad’s classic Orientalism, one would expect all discussions to be directly related to such. I expected all classes to be directly related to middle-eastern topics in order to understand the course’s main goal. However, a short YouTube sensation changed everything. Susan Boyle, an English woman, who meets few of the basic standards of beauty, challenged all of the public stereotypes. She provided an interesting add-on to our conversations about the other. How quickly do we make another being “the other”? I found it interesting that the public creates a familiar stereotype for women. In order to be considered attractive and worthy of attention, there has to be some sort of sexual element to their personality. Susan came out immediately and let lose any sort of sexuality she had. A pronounced virgin (though later debunked), she was void of any attractive qualities. And then she sang…. The beauty of her voice shocked a worldwide public. So many of us create borders and judgments about people very quickly, and Susan Boyle was the one of the first time that we could all publicly look at ourselves.